Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Frosting
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For the past several years on New Year’s Eve, my friend and her husband have hosted a small party at their house. It’s a pretty chill night filled lots of socializing, eating, drinking, Wii, and board games. (Writing that made me feel old, jeez.) And each year, I of course bring dessert.
Since I’ve been sick this week, I almost took the easy route and made S’mores Pies. Then I realized that was stupid and decided on champagne cupcakes. Fortunately for me, I only looked at a couple of recipes before deciding on this one. The original recipe called for a pastry cream filling, but since I’m not a fan of pastry cream and I was feeling lazy, I decided to leave it out.
Well, the pastry cream wasn’t missed at all. The cupcakes are moist and the champagne flavor comes through in both the cake and the frosting. I would definitely make these again for a celebratory night! Plus, I love any excuse to use my contraband dragees and glitter. (We can’t buy them in California.)
Note: I know absolutely nothing about champagne (except that I like it), so I asked a couple buying champagne at the store if they would help me. This guy directed me to a $5.99 bottle of Barefoot Bubbly Moscato that said “Deliciously Sweet” on it and told me it would be great for baking; his husband made it clear it was not suitable for drinking. Point taken, and it worked great in both the cupcakes and frosting.
Photos of the process.
Cake Ingredients
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup champagne
Cake Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup champagne and 1/2 cup sour cream (mixture will fizz and bubble a little). Add flour and champagne mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Batter will be thick.
Fill cupcake papers with 1/4 cup level measures of batter. Bake for 17-22 minutes. Let cool. Yields 18 cupcakes.
Frosting Ingredients
1 cup plus 1 tbsp. champagne
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
Frosting Preparation
Place 1 cup of champagne in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Transfer to a small bowl or condiment cup and allow to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream softened butter and powdered sugar together. Once the frosting is thick and fluffy, pour in the reduced 2 tbsp. champagne plus 1 tbsp. champagne from the bottle and mix well.
Frost and decorate.
Recipe from Sprinkle Bakes.
2011 in Pictures
2010 was yet another sweet year on the blog. Have a happy and safe new year!
Bake a Difference for Kids’ Cancer (& Giveaway)
Two years ago I lost my friend Patti (my age–only in her 30s) to cancer. Watching her go through treatments, try different medications, and see her in pain was one of the absolute worst things I have ever witnessed and I can’t imagine a child going through what Patti went through. So, when I heard that one of my favorite brands, OXO, was donating up to $100,000 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer to support research for new and improved therapies, I knew I had to participate.
Background: Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was founded by two OXO employees whose own son was battling pediatric cancer. When the couple learned that the main reason over 25% of kids diagnosed with cancer do not survive was because of a lack of effective therapies, the organization was started. For more information, visit OXO’s Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
How you can help bake a difference: Purchase a limited edition cookie spatula! For every spatula sold, OXO will donate 50% of the profits (up to $100,000) to benefit pediatric cancer awareness. These spatulas can be found at Bed Bath & Beyond and Amazon, as well as other retailers.
